He's been earmarked as one of the players who could have a breakout year with Mayo this season, but for Castlebar Mitchels defender Patrick Durcan it's all about working hard and improving each week.
Durcan who has come into the Mayo senior set up this year under his former Mitchels club manager Pat Holmes said after his sides win over Monaghan on Sunday that playing for Mayo is something he's always been working for “I've always dreamed and tried to put myself in a position to be able to make the Mayo team and thankfully now I'm getting a chance and going out and trying to do my best.”
While he's got plenty of game time in the league so far, he knows that there's a lot of work to be done to ensure he's still there come later in the year. “It's what I expected, it's tough work and I've a lot to do, but I'll keep working on it” he said before adding: “It's been brilliant, the lads have been very good to me. It's not easy coming into a new setup, but they've made me feel welcome and I'm enjoying it.”
As for the game itself against Monaghan, Durcan said that he felt his his team had a lot to prove after their loss to Tyrone.“We just tried to keep going all day, we'd a lot to prove after the last day, when we felt we didn't play as well as we could really. We tried to up it and we got the win thankfully.” As for the physicality it wasn't anything he wasn't expecting he said:“It was physical enough, you'd always expect tough games off the northern teams and we knew what we were going to come up against and we got the win anyway that's what's important. I tried to do my best I got in a few positions, I probably should have kicked a point or two, but it's a work in progress. I've a lot to do yet and I'll keep trying to improve.”
